Realms Adjoined
by DMajorBoss
Summary: For two particular Endsville residents, all it takes is one happening to cause so many worlds to come together...or, at least, to go searching through them
1. Chapter 1

Realms Adjoined: Initial Idiocy

Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

As so were the feelings of our antagonistic protagonist one fine morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the weekend looked to be one of much activity. Still, having your bladder force you out of bed earlier than usual on a Saturday isn't quite as enjoyable as one would imagine…if there is actually someone that gets joy from it.

Sliding out of bed, the young girl dragged her feet across her carpet, eyes still closed as she made her way to the bathroom. Running on daily routine alone, she proceeded to go about her business, washing and dressing included, before she made her way back to her room.

Still standing, she placed her head on her bed, sleep still incomplete on her personal agenda.

"What idiot would willingly be up at this hour?"

A loud slam echoed within her house, followed by the cries of a voice so annoying and familiar.

"MAAAAANDYYYYY!"

"Either I'm getting good at this," she spoke, seeming to refer to someone as she did so, "or someone out there needs to work on their writing."

Bursting through her door, the annoyance made himself evident to her.

"Mandy!"

"What is it Billy?"

As she turned her head, still resting it on her bed, she took notice of the fact that Billy brought some objects with him: a battery operated plasma lamp and Grim's scythe.

"Oh yeah, this ought to be good."

He started to race around the room excitedly as he explained his intentions to Mandy.

"I gots this great idea Mandy. I got it from this show where this little orange bear with an eating problem tried to get in to a bee's next using a balloon after covering himself with mud. I'ma go out to a bee hive and use Grim's scythe to cut it down. Theeeeen, you hold up the lighty ball and distract them while I take the 'hunny.' Their stingers will be electrified with the sparkly shiny electroball as I get all of the hunny for us. It's brilliant!"

She looked at him for only a second before she made her reply.

"Billy, how did you get Grim's scythe, and why this insane mimicry of Winnie the Pooh?"

He looked at her for a moment, not having a clue what she was talking about. He placed the plasma lamb beside her open closet door as he responded to her.

"You know, Mandy, not all of us name our bowel movements…such silly names, that is."

"Oh yeah," she replied aloud, "this is comedy at its peak."

She walked over to Billy and grabbed the scythe.

"Look, I'll deal with you later; right now, I just want to go back to sleep. Now leave."

In objection, he grabbed the scythe back from her.

"But Mandy, this plan is great. It's fool proof."

This little scythe snatch continued for each one's counter in the conversation.

"Billy, you ARE a fool."

"And I have PROOF that it'll work."

"What proof?"

"Cartoons never lie!"

At this point, both had a hold on the scythe, each trying to tear it from the grasp of the other.

"Billy, stop this nonsense and give me the scythe…"

"But Mandy!"

"…now!"

At that instant, she managed to wrench the scythe away from Billy, tumbling back as she did so. The blade smashed right into the sitting plasma lamp, the energy of the scythe reacting with the electric ball, causing a weird array of lights to shoot into Mandy's closet. As she toppled back, she lost hold of the scythe from the energy flow and was flung into her own closet, right through a psychedelic collection of colors and swerves that served as some sort of portal. Then, just as soon as the portal had opened, it closed again, leaving Billy alone in Mandy's room, Grim's scythe on the ground alongside a smashed plasma lamp.

"Oooooh, pretty…but where'd Mandy go?"

Indeed, where did Mandy go? She herself didn't even know at this point, as she could only see an assortment of mixed colors and weird designs. It looked as though she was traversing through an 80s music video.

Looking around for a bit, she sighed as she uttered one sentence.

"It doesn't pay to get out of bed sometimes."

What has happened to Mandy? Where will she end up? Why does all of this seem similar to an episode that was already shown?

"Just stop with the questions and end this part already."

Huh?

"Yeah, you heard me. I'm fully aware of what's going on here, and you started this all off on a weak introduction. People expect better of you, so I hope you pick up the pace come the next part."

How are you able to communicate with me? I'm the narrator.

"And YOU are the one that's doing this. Just end this nonsense so we can move on; this place is starting to make me dizzy."

Umm…alright.

Stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Yeah…you've got to work on that ending."


	2. Chapter 2

Realms Adjoined: Suburban Opera

It was a nice and peaceful Saturday morning. So bright and tranquil…

…yet here he was, the Grim Reaper, walking up to Mandy's house. Billy had called him only moments ago, saying that it was urgent.

The only real reason that he was coming over, though, was because his scythe was missing, and he knew that Billy had something to do with it.

"I could have chosen chess, or checkers, or even Tiddlywinks," Grim grumbled, making his way to Mandy's room after he got to her house, "but no, I choose da Limbo. It was a clever plan, and nice wordplay on where we were. I still think that she cheated somehow."

He made it inside of Mandy's room, only to find Billy, in a panicked state, waiting for him. In his wake was Grim's scythe and a radio, the remains of the plasma lamp behind him, next to the closet.

"Grim! You have to help! Something strange has happened!"

"What is it now Billy? And why do ya have me scythe?"

"It was all so horrible and confusing," Billy replied, Grim taking the scythe from him as he did so, "there's only one way that I can express to you what all happened."

At that, Billy pressed the play button on the radio, a somewhat choppy R&B instrumental coming from it.

"Through song."

"Wait," Grim said, hearing the music, "where have I heard that before?"

"Shhhh!"

At Billy's shushing, he began his retelling of previous events.

"It was very early in the morning,

Everyone still takin' a snooze

So I, got on my clothes and I,

Went to go watch some cartoons

"And as I sat there with some cereal that was so very sweet and cruuunchy,

I saw a show with this overweight bear and big 'ol pot of huuunny.

"It looked so good to me,

I just had to see,

If I could get my very own,

Jar of huuuuunny.

"So I came up with this plan,

And I know it'd succeed

BUT I needed another…

…Mandy was all that I need. 

"So I went and got an electro ball and I then picked up your scyyyiyyythe,

And I made my way to Mandy's house, running for my liiiiiyiiiiife.

"I got to her house and…went up to her room,

But as usual…she gave that look of doom

She told me to go but…I had refuuuuused

And then she grabbed the scythe, my body she'd bruuuuuise

"So I held on to the scyyyyyiythe

For my own dear liiiiiyife…"

"Umm, Billy…"Grim tried to interrupt, but Billy kept going.

"…and then when I let go,

She flew back to her own dow'

Yes it was her closet dow'

After she had let go,

"And then some shining light, came from that glowy ball,

And she accidentally smashed it, it was right beside her wall,

And the light went in the closet, weird colors in that door,

And she finally fell through, and I couldn't see her no more.

"And I looked at that closet,

Nothin' came from the closet,

So I went to the bathroom…

…and made a 'Toilet Deposit'

And I went back to the closet,

She wasn't inside the closet

I think I have lost it

I don't know what caused it.

"She may be in that closet,

Gotta get her outta that closet

Grim let's go to the closet

We gotta get her outta that closet…closet…closet…"

The music started to die down, Billy now latched onto Grim's robe at this point.

"Billy," Grim began.

"…closet…"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Grim shouted, throwing Billy off of him, "Now, by what you're telling me, she used me scythe in unison with that plasma lamp over there, creating a portal through her closet?" 

Billy went back and grabbed onto Grim's robe.

"Uh huh."

"Hmm…this seems similar to when you were sent to Valhalla, though no one seems to have come through the portal that was made…if I had to make a guess, I'd guess that she was transported to a new realm of some sort." 

"What do we do now?"

"Well, we could leave her wherever she is."

"Grim!"

"Oh, alright. I guess we should go and find her."

At that, he pointed his scythe at Billy's wrist and shot energy onto him. When the light dimmed, Billy found a strange looking watch upon his arm.

"Oooooh, what's this?"

"It's a special watch that I'm givin' you for this little trip. It'll allow me to track ya with me scythe so I can find ya if'n you get lost...which I know you will."

He then pointed his scythe at her closet and, in a bright flash, created another portal in the doorway.

"It'll also allow you to create portals like this one in case we have to split up for faster searching. Just remember that you have limited power to do dat, and it can only be refilled by me scythe."

"Yay! We get to go and search for Mandy! Now we can rescue her…"

Billy reached down, rewinds the tape he had in the radio, and plays it again.

"…AND GET HER OUT OF THE CLOSET…closet…closet!"

With that, he runs through the portal that Grim made.

"…closet…"

Grim looked at the radio as it gave off that last echo.

"I think dat he's been watchin' way too much of that urban television."

As Grim said this, he walked through the portal himself, all closing behind him as he did so.

Meanwhile

Dazed, Mandy slowly started to awaken. As she stood, she rubbed her head and looked around a bit. Everything looked normal enough…but still different.

"Ugh, where am I?"

She looked around for a little longer, taking notice of a suburban feel that overcame her. She then took notice of a construction site behind her. Looking at the billboard behind her, she read aloud the words:

Future Site of Peach Creek Estates

"Peach Creek, huh?"

She gave of a sigh upon realizing what just might have happened.

"All I wanted was some more sleep, and it seems as though I'm placed inside of an 'eventful' weekend…Billy's going to pay for this one."

And so, with her arrival in this new place, a new adventure starts for her. One can only wait and see as to what encounters she shall soon have.

"Okay, seriously, you have to do something about how you're ending these things."

What? I thought that was better than last time.

"I'm sure you do. Keep practicing and someone might actually read this stuff you're writing."

Yeah, that'd be nice…well, anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Oh yeah, this is going to be a loooong story."


	3. Chapter 3

Realms Adjoined: My, Grim's Partner is a Dummy

Ah, the first Saturday of Summer. Peaceful serenity encompassed the Cul-de-Sac this morning, only a select few inhabitants of Peach Creek actually active at the moment…

…and, of course, one annoyed blonde.

Mandy took her time trying to find out where she was, realizing that Billy probably screwed up big time in what he did; knowing that they had better come find her, she took to walking near different paths and such, gathering some form of bearings.

With but a glance to the creek near the site, she ignored the trailer park in the distance and made her way down the sidewalk. Eventually, she came to a playground, no one inhabiting it as of yet.

"So many pieces of equipment to play on," she said, cutting through the playground, "and yet no one actually making use of it. I guess everyone is still inside, either watching T.V. or still asleep…lazy bums."

She continued to walk along the sidewalk after leaving the playground, passing the Lane on her right. She soon noticed roofs from beyond the fences, a sign that there were indeed inhabitants in the area. As she came to the end of the sidewalk, she stepped out into the middle of the street and took a look at the houses in the area. The whole thing looked like a thermometer to her, and there was still no one to be seen since she got there.

"Suburban kids are supposed to be lively and carefree on the weekends," she said softly, "isn't there anyone to confirm that assumption?"

To her left, she heard a door open and close, someone finally coming outside into the morning.

"Once again, that was almost too predictable of a setup."

She walked over to the kid that exited his house, taking note of his apparel as she did so: a pair of purple shorts, a red T-Shirt, and some red socks that seemed to resemble stockings going into a pair of light blue shoes. Upon his head was a black ski hat, the sides of which having two white lines on them.

"Ah, such a wonderful morning," the boy said, looking up to the sky, arms held wide, yet to take notice of the girl approaching, "I wonder what recreations shall be partaken upon today?"

"If I had to guess, the foreshadowing of a denouement that has something to do with the two of us in the grand scheme of things."

Shocked to know that someone had actually used a proper string of words that early in the morning, the boy looked in the direction of the speaker, finally taking note of Mandy.

"Oh, heheh, good morning."

"Yeah, well, it's a morning alright."

"Hmm…I don't remember seeing you around here before. I take it that you're a new resident of our nice community?"

"For as long as it's gonna take, I assume."

The boy already felt a tad bit uncomfortable about the mood that she was in. Still, first impressions are what counts, and he wanted to give her the best impression of the neighborhood.

"Well, my name is Edd. That's spelled with two 'D's. My friends call me Double D."

"Quite clever of them. Well, 'Edd', where exactly are these friends of yours?"

"Umm…well, I was just about to go find out myself."

"Alright, then let's go," she said, taking a few steps ahead of him, "My name's Mandy, by the way."

"Oh…umm, nice to meet you…I guess I can show you around for a bit."

With introductions out of the way, Double D started walking alongside Mandy, giving her a quick tour of the Cul-de-Sac as he headed for the house at the end of the enclosing.

Meanwhile

Location: Charles Darwin Middle School

It was a break between classes as both Jake and Adam were heading to their lockers, still debating over a topic since earlier that day.

"I'm telling you, Jake, animals can be found just about anywhere, be it in a city or town," Adam continued, opening his locker in the process, "they're all over the place."

Jake P. Spidermonkey used his tail to hang over Adam as he opened his own locker.

"Sure, you say that now," Jake countered, "But you seem to forget that humans are running wild all over the streets too, even more so than we are."

"It's not that I've forgotten, it's just that we aren't as overrunning as you may think we are."

"Oh, sure, and I bet those cities of your just happened to appear overnight too."

"Look, Jake, it's not as though we're always moving in from one place to another; we do tend to stay in one place for quite a while before even considering going elsewhere. To say that we're always on the move in this day an age is about as absurd as another human popping up in this school right now."

Just then, a multicolored flash appeared beside the two, a boy seeming to appear from out of nowhere now standing with them.

"Whoa!" he said, neon sparkles still emanating around him, "Psychadillyo!"

The two looked on at the boy before them, not knowing what to say.

"Hi, I'm Billy," he began, "you don't know me and I don't know you but I'm lookin' for a friend of mine and I thought that she'd be here…well, not here, but somewhere around here 'cause I don't know where 'here' is and I thought that she may be somewhere around here or there and what smells so founkay up in here?"

The two continued to look on, each of them speechless until Jake finally spoke up.

"Well now, it doesn't look all that absurd right now, does it buddy boy?"

"Um, hi," Adam began, "I'm Adam, and this is my friend, Jake. I…don't know who you might be looking for, but I'm the only human in this school. If there were another human here, then I'd probably know about it by now."

"Aww, nuts," Billy said, snapping his fingers as he did so, "I guess I'll just have to look elsewhere now."

It was then that a second multicolored flash appeared beside Billy, a tall figure dressed in black standing behind him.

"You know," the figure spoke, "you should really wait for me next time. There's no tellin' where you were gonna end up if…"

He stopped momentarily, noticing his surroundings. All of a sudden, animals from all around were starting to come out and look in his general direction.

"…uh oh."

"Grim?" Billy questioned, "What's wrong?"

"Yeah," Adam asked, "why is everyone acting strange all of a…"

His sentence went unfinished…or, to be more specific, unheard. At that very moment, an enormous uproar began emanating from the halls of the school. Jake, along with his other friends, began to point and yell at Grim, all seeming both angered and afraid of him. Both Billy and Adam had to hold their ears to try and drown out the uncontrollable racket.

"Grim!" Billy yelled out, his voice barely being audible, "What's goin' on?!?"

"It's dez animals, mon! They have an innate ability to sense when I'm commin', and they go nuts whenever I'm around!"

"Whaaaaat?!?"

"Nevermind! I'll explain later!"

Forming another portal with his scythe, Grim kicked Billy through it first before following shortly after. When both were gone, all got quiet again, most of the animals going back to their business as though nothing had happened.

"What in the world was all of that for?" Adam asked, finally able to hear decently after smacking himself in the ears for a bit.

"Oh, that? We creatures tend to have an innate ability to sense death, and that guy was DEFINITELY bad news. He gave us all the willies."

"The 'willies'? The 'willies' doesn't do justice to all of the commotion everyone made."

"You know Adam, this could start an entirely new conversation about how man brings death with him wherever he goes…but class is about to start; let's go, before we're late."

It was at his very words that the bell rang, everyone going on to their next classes. Adam looked around again, questioning the brief event that just took place. Shaking his head in misunderstanding, he started off towards his next class.

"Man, I never seem to understand anything that goes on around here."

And so, with one world down, Billy and Grim have many more to go. And what of Edd and Mandy? What possible exploits could they get into?

"Umm, Mandy, do you hear something?"

"Oh, him? Don't worry about it just yet, Edd. He always makes himself more outspoken as he wraps things up."

Do you have to do this every time?

"Hey, don't try to pin the blame on me. I'm just glad that I'm not the only one who knows that you're here now."

Well…anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"You know, Mandy, I've only known you but for a short time now, and it already seems as though things are getting much weirder than usual."

"Keep in mind that this is just the beginning; you haven't seen anything yet."


	4. Chapter 4

1Realms Adjoined: Mandy and the Geeks

"DEE DEE! GET OUT OF MY LA-BO-RA-TO-RY!"

What day would be complete without that call echoing throughout the metallic sanctuary that is Dexter's Laboratory?

"HE HE HE HA HA HA!"

And, as the usual response, what day would be complete without Dee Dee's usual laugher echoing throughout the metallic sanctuary that is Dexter's Laboratory?

CRASH

And how could one possibly not expect to hear the sounds of destruction that takes its toll on what metallic objects are left standing in Dexter's Laboratory?

Another day, another usual set of activities…

…that was, however, until two multicolored flashes appeared suddenly, Billy and Grim making it to yet another location.

"Oooh," Billy began, still in awe with the colors floating around him, "Where are we now?"

"I don't know," Grim responded, taking a look around the area, "but there doesn't seem to be that much natural light coming from this place."

"Ya think that Mandy's somewhere around here."

"Once again, I don't know…and don't fully care, if it matters. Let's split up and look for her."

As he looked down to where Billy was standing, he found that the boy already took off from him.

"Yeah…like dat…"

As Grim started his search, Billy took the time to see the sights that were around him. Flashing lights, giant dials, beakers, vats, and assorted vials, tall machines and robots too; it was a Sci-Fi's wildest dreams come true.

He came to one particular machine and stopped, seeing a bright red button on the front of it. As his eyes lit up with joy, he heard the approaching steps of someone. Turning, he had to look up to notice the tall blonde before him.

"Mandy? My, have you gotten taller?"

Stopping in her tracks at the new visitor, the girl looked down questioningly.

"My name's not Mandy, my name is Dee Dee. Who are you?"

"My name is Billy, and ies have a question for ya…what does this button do?"

At those words, her own eyes lit up with joy, now gazing at the bright red button on the machine.

"OOOOOH, what DOES this button do?"

At that moment, a little red-headed boy came running behind them, sliding to a stop in his black boots as his white lab coat shifted a little. He pointed at them both, his hand within a purple glove.

"Dee Dee, GET OUT OF MY LA-BO-RA-TO-RY! And you, I don't know who you are, but GET OUT OF MY LA-BO-RA-TO-RY!"

As he exclaimed at the two, he felt a shadow creep over him. He turned as he made yet another exclamation.

"Another intruder? Well, in case you are too stooopid to understand, I want you to GEEEeeeee…"

The sight of the Grim Reaper before him stopped him in mid sentence, his eyes widening with fear at the looming entity.

"Yeah, yeah," Grim responded, "I heard it when you were talkin' to those two."

An explosion came at the end of that response, the assumption being made that both Billy and Dee Dee did indeed find out what the button did. Dexter, however, was too shocked to turn around and see the damage. He dropped to his knees, pleading for his life before Grim.

"Oh please, pleeeeease, don't take me. I am but a boy who has yet to live out his life to its fullest. There are so many inventions that can be created, so much to be done within my la-bo-ra-to-ry. I am too young to die!"

"Oh get up," Grim began, "despite the dings you been doing in here, your time won't come for quite some time. I'm here for anodder reason. You see, I'm in search of this little blonde girl who wears pink, and…" 

Before he could finish his description, Dexter was right back on his feet.

"Dee Dee? No! No, no, that is impossible! You cannot be searching for my sister! She may be annoying, stooooopid, and mess up my lab, but I would never wish death upon her. You cannot have her, Grim Reaper!" 

"Look, if you'll just listen to what I have to say…"

"No! I won't fall for your ways of trickery. The REAL Grim Reaper would not have such a heavy Jamacian accent."

"This coming from a kid who has an Austrian accent resembling Peter Loore. I swear, it's almost as though it were 1964 all over again."

Dexter began to reach behind his back as he responded to Grim.

"As I was saying before, I want you to GET OUT OF MY LA-BO-RA-TO-RY! And if you won't willingly leave my la-bo-ra-to-ry…"

"Why are ya sayin' each syllable, mon? It's not necessary."

Dexter then pulled out a large laser cannon from behind his back, aiming it at Grim's head.

"…then I will MAKE you leave my la-bo-ra-to-ry!"

Grim's eye sockets got wide with surprise at the weapon aimed at him.

"My sentiments," Dexter stated, the weapon beginning to hum, "are those of Jean Giraudoux: 'I'm not afraid of death. It's the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life'!"

As he fired his weapon, Grim was just barely able to dodge the shot, yet another explosion emanating from the half dozen that Billy and Dee Dee had been causing since the altercation began. Grabbing his scythe, Grim fired a blast from his blade right in Dexter's direction.

"Oh yeah? Well let's see how well you handle the game when you have to deal with ME on a personal level!"

The two of them kept moving through out the lab, firing shots at each other as both Billy and Dee Dee continued to ravage the lab together, oblivious to the altercation going on.

Meanwhile

Within Peach Creek, Edd had been showing Mandy the majority of the Cul-de-Sac, pointing out all of the houses and giving brief descriptions of those that lived there. They had eventually made their way up towards that main circle of the Cul-de-Sac, the final stop on his little tour.

"And this is where my other friend lives. His name is Ed, and he lives in the basement of this particular domicile. He's quite a jovial character, though a bit lacking when it comes to rational and intelligent thought. His hygiene could also use work, but he's still quite nice."

"Well," Mandy responded, "that was a nice little tour. Too bad that SOMEONE couldn't have been a bit more descriptive in their methods, instead relying on assumption to move things along."

"Umm...were my methods a little too…"

"Oh, no, you did fine. I was talking about someone else. You'll know about him soon enough. So, Double D, why exactly are we here?"

"Oh, well, I wanted to see what Ed was up to. It being the weekend and all, I assume that Eddy would still be sleeping. With the usual run of cartoons and the classic scene of sweetened cereal, I figured that Ed would be wide awake by now."

As though to confirm his assumption, a loud banging noise was heard from Ed's room. They walked over to his window and peered in, wondering where exactly the sound came from.

"Double D!"

Instantly, an arm within a green coat reached through the small window, grabbing Double D and pulling him inside. Mandy continued to peer through from her vantage point to see what was going on.

"It's about time you got here, sockhead. I've been waiting all morning to tell you about this great scam idea that I've got. We'll be rollin' in jawbreakers!"

She took notice of the tall boy in the green coat, Ed, and the short one with the yellow shirt, Eddy.

"Birds of a feather flock together, and it looks like these three turkeys have a plan to get some stuffin'…okay, you've got to start coming up with some better lines for me. I AM the main character in this story, aren't I?"

With that question (which shall remain unanswered, even if it is obvious), she made her way through the window and into Ed's room.

Meanwhile, back Dexter's Laboratory

The area was a mess, metal, wires, and various other parts all over the place. Whatever hadn't been shot by either Dexter or Grim had been blown up, ran over, or 'slightly' damaged by Dee Dee and Billy. The two latter mentioned were currently on hover pods, racing throughout the lab as the former two mentioned continued their battle.

Rolling over into a crouch, Grim looked around a broken machine to check and see where Dexter had gone. Seeing no sign of him, he formed a portal in front of him.

"Okay, this has all gotten way out of hand. It's time for me to get out of here."

"Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim!"

Billy's voice echoed through the area as he fell on top of grim, his hover pod having crashed into one of the many broken robots that littered the ground.

"Grim! That was SOOOOOOO awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said, pushing Billy off of him, "Look, Mandy's not here, so it's time to go."

"Aww, but can't we take her with us? Dee Dee's really knows how to have fun!"

"Oh no, it's bad enough that I have ONE idiot to deal with on a daily basis. Two would be more than enough to drive me nuts." 

"Aww, but Griiiiim…"

Without waiting to hear his plea, Grim kicked Billy through the portal, following quickly after him. The portal closed itself just as Dexter jumped over to the broken machine. He looked around again, no sign of either Grim or Billy to be found.

"Success! I have battled the Grim Reaper himself, and I, Dexter, Boy Genius, came out victorious! I saved my sister, and my lab is…"

He looked around, noticing just how much damage had been done in such a short time.

"…going to take a lot of work to get back to normal."

Dee Dee gave out an excited cry, whizzing past Dexter on a hover pod. Remembering his primary goal from that morning, he ran after her, shouting out his usual cry:

"DEE DEE! GET OUT OF MY LA-BO-RA-TO-RY!"

And so ends another escapade of Grim and Billy's search. One can only wonder where they'll end up next, not to mention what is in store for our stern female protagonist.

"See? I knew I was the main character in this story."

Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in Ed's room?

"Shouldn't you go ahead and finish this part of the story?"

Yeah, I was getting to that… anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Slowly, yet surely, I think you're getting the hang of this…still, don't let it all go to your head."


	5. Chapter 5

1Realms Adjoined: Ergo to Ego

After having looked through the window of Ed's room for a moment or two, Mandy finally decided to join in on the activity. She climbed through the window and, upon landing on the floor, took a look around the underground abode. It was dimly lit, discarded food and clothing everywhere. The walls were covered with various science fiction posters, each one of them sounding like some cheaply produced trite that would have both been made by AND enjoyed by single minded fanatics. The smell was something of its own as well...but she didn't worry about that very much.

"Nose jokes, huh? Yeah, that hasn't been done before."

Anyway, as she examined the room, she took note of how it reminded her of Billy's room. From this, there could have been only one of two occupants of such a place: a rebellious teenager or a sloppy idiot. Seeing that neither of the three took notice of her yet, she decided to wait and find out.

"I tell ya, sockhead, this scam is sure to be the best one yet!"

The smaller of the three spoke aloud as the taller one, holding on to Double D in a headlock, decided to offer his two cents as well.

"Better than gravy, baby. Ahahah, that rhymed."

"Two cents?" Mandy murmured to herself, breaking the fourth wall yet again, "even a penny for his thoughts would be overpaying. I take it that this is his room...even though I should already know that, according to the details mentioned in the last story."

Pulling hastily, Edd was finally able to free himself from Ed's grip, finally inhaling the relatively cleaner air that was in the room. He stumbled backwards and fell, though, right beside Mandy.

"That bad, huh?"

Edd looked up to her as he gave his response.

"You have no idea."

"I just might, actually; one of the perks to the whole noseless look is that you can't really smell the worst that is around you."

It was then that Ed and Eddy finally took notice of the girl that was standing before them.

"Hey!" Eddy started, "Who are you? And why are you in here? Trespassing's illegal, you know, but I just might look the other way...for a price, that is."

"Sure," she responded, "How about four?"

Money signs instantly appeared in Eddy's eyes at her response.

"Four bucks?!"

"No," she responded, holding up her hand, "four fingers. I can either give 'em to ya crisply across the face or crumpled up and IN your face."

As she spoke, she held her hand out in a way to look as though she'd slap him, then made a fist upon finishing the statement. Eddy's expression went from excitement to surprise and then to angry, all within the sentence she spoke. Double D finally got off of the floor, dusting off his shirt as he did so.

"Heheh, I guess she's offering you face value on that deal, Eddy."

Eddy gave a look to Double D that stopped his laugher to the joke. He then walked up to Edd and pulled him down to him.

"Oh, crackin' jokes, are we? Okay, funny man, who is she and why is she here? Is she supposed to be your new girlfriend or something?"

Edd pulled away from him, a slight blush coming to his face as he tried to respond.

"Well, I, uh..."

"And here I thought you were good with words," she spoke up, stepping in front of him, "I'm Mandy, and I'm visiting for today due to circumstances beyond my control. While I'm here, I figured that I'd take in some of the sights and sounds of this 'quaint' community...until I heard you mention something about a scam. So I now figure that, while I'm here, I can make a little cash on the side as well."

"Oh yeah?!" Eddy countered, stepping up to her, noting that he was actually the taller one in the room for a change, "And what makes you think that I would even include the assistance of a short-stack like yourself? We work as a three man trio, not a quarteret."

"That's 'quartet,' Eddy." Double D corrected.

Without backing down, she gave her response, her usual look of determination in her eye.

"I'm quite used to getting my way, and I can be pretty persuasive if need be. You'll see that I'm not the kind of person to simply take 'no' for an answer."

Out of nowhere, Ed started laughing excitedly, the three of them turning to his direction.

"I get it now, guys! Four fingers is what she has, and she wanted to put them in your face. She is quite the snappy one, that is."

A moment of silence was had at his realization, Mandy finally breaking the silence of the room.

"It figures that I'd have to deal with at least ONE idiot no matter where I go."

Meanwhile

Location: 1123 Wilson Way

Two multicolored flashes appeared on the steps of a large house. As the light dimmed, both Grim and Billy looked up to see a place resembling a cross between a haunted house and a classical estate.

"Wow!" Billy exclaimed, "Do you think that Mandy could be in there?"

"There's only one way to find out," Grim responded, "I must say, though, this place looks rather dreary on the outside...it looks like a great place to visit."

As they walked up to the front door, Billy ran in front of Grim, holding out his hand for him to stop.

"Nowwaidaminite Grim. You've been having all the fun since we started this adventure. For once, I will be the one to ask the questions."

"Me? You were the one who did nothing but destroy expensive equipment on our last run. I actually TRIED to find Mandy before that red-headed nerd picked a fight with me."

"Hmm...," Billy pondered for a second...and actual second, mind you, before he turned and knocked on the door, "...well, consider this a favor instead."

"I have da strange feelin' that I'm gonna regret dis...as usual."

Shortly after knocking on the door, a red-headed female in a purple skirt and green jacket answered the door.

"Hello, and welcome to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. I'm Frankie. I take it that you're here to drop off your skeleton friend here?"

"'Skeleton friend?' I'm the Grim Reaper!"

"Ahbubububuh, I can handle this, Grim," Billy spoke, turning back to the woman at the door, "Skeleton friend? He's the Grim Reaper."

Grim smacked his forehead in aggravation as the two continued.

"Suuuuure he is. Well, anyway, I guess you want to put him up for adoption, huh?"

"Adoption? But I already have him."

"Umm...no. What I asking is if you want to give him to us to keep."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary. He's my best friend forever!"

"Regrettably," Grim added.

"O...kay. Then why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm looking for a friend of mine."

"But you already HAVE an imaginary friend."

"Oh, no, I means my female friend. She gots blonde hair and a hair ribbon and a pink dress with a flower on it and no nose and a bad attitude and a mean right hook. I lost her this mornin' when I was tryin' to get some honey from a tree like they do on T.V. with the over-eatin' bear and the pot of hunny."

"Uh huh...look kid, this isn't a dating service. We house imaginary friends here. Now, if you don't have any other business here..."

He actually stood there and thought about that for a moment, finally giving his well thought response to Frankie.

"Nope."

"...okay then, goodbye, and have a nice day."

The door slammed in their faces, Billy turning to leave as Grim looked on.

"Wait, was that it?"

"Yup," Billy replied, "I gots nothin'."

"You can say that again, you dolt," Grim said, making another portal in front of them, "I could have done a better job than that."

"Hmm...then I guess you should, Grim, I guess you should."

At that, Billy walked through the portal, leaving an aggravated Grim behind him.

"I'm willing to wager that I wouldn't be in this mess if I had let that dumb hamster live for an extra day. A little extra paperwork would have been much better than what I'm going through now."

He then walked through the portal as well, any trace of them being there vanishing along with the psychedelic passageway.

And, with those two gone to continue the search, Mandy still faces off against Eddy at Ed's house. Who's going to come out on top? Where will Billy and Grim end up next? Make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of "Realms Adjoined" if you wish to find out.

"Hold it. You're telling me that it's over already?"

Well...yeah.

"You really think that this is good enough this time around? I told you before to not get cocky about all of this."

"I must agree with her this time, Mr. Narrator, sir. You had a vast assortment of situations that you could have included in this story, yet it all ended rather quickly."

As they say in show business, you should always leave them wanting more.

"You have to actually give them something first, though. You didn't get much done in Ed's room, and you missed out on a slew of events that could have happened at Fosters: Madam Foster reacting to Grim, for example."

"Once again, she's right. Besides, aren't Saturdays at Fosters known as 'Adopt a Thought Saturday'? Why would everyone be inside the house instead of outside for adoption?"

For one, the days of the week aren't always the same in each world. Remember that it was a school day when they went to Charles Darwin Middle School. And besides, how do you both know of these locations anyway?

"You don't need to worry about that for now. Just worry about making a better scene for next time; you wouldn't want to disappoint your readers, now would you?"

Alright already, I get your point. I'll work on the next part a little better than this one.

"I must say, Mandy, this breaking of the fourth wall is quite enjoyable; I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"See? I knew you'd like it Double D. And I can bet that it'll only get more enjoyable from here."

"I do hope so."


	6. Chapter 6

1Realms Adjoined: Cooking Up A Scam

Location: Prickly Pines

It was a dark night, a storm approaching in the distance...

"Umm, excuse me, Narrator, sir, but aren't those just the opening lines of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 'Paul Clifford' reworded?"

...first I had to deal with Mandy; now you too, Edd?

"Well, if it's any consolation, Mandy said that she'll wait until the end this time around."

Wonderful. Look, I'll get to Peach Creek shortly. Right now, let me go ahead and get Billy and Grim taken care of.

"Oh, alright. Excuse my interruption; you may continue now."

Thank you. Anyway, as I was saying, it was a dark night, a storm approaching in the distance. All was calm for now, though, as is usual with such coming weather. On the grounds of Camp Kidney, next to Leakey Lake, all of the residents known as Bean Scouts were situated around a small campfire. It was a night for storytelling, and Jelly Cabin just happened to have the floor...well, dirt.

"...and, as the kind little Bean made his way through the haunted house," Lazlo continued, having told the bulk of the story already, "he started to notice some strange things going on. There was very little light, and everything was covered in dust...and the smell wasn't all that pleasant either."

On the other side of the fire, one particular platypus was not pleased to be there that night.

"Man, I could be back in my doing anything else," Edward muttered to those around him, "but no, I'm stuck here listening to those Jellys tell yet another lame story. I'm actually hoping that the storm cancels out this little snoozefest; nothing scary ever happens in their stories."

"G-g-gee, Edward, I don't know about that," the guinea pig next to him spoke up, "I mean, there was that one story with the m-meat monster."

"Get a hold of yourself, Samson, I'm telling ya that nothing's going to happen with this story."

It was at that moment that a flash of lightning lit up the sky, two multicolored flashes warping in just as the thunder crashed in. From nature itself, no one knew that there were two extra guests hidden within the bushes.

"...so, thinking that it was the way out," Lazlo continued, Raj and Clam sitting next to him, "he ran as fast as he could to the door."

Slowly and, strangely enough, without a word, Billy and Grim started to walk towards the campers. One by one, campers started getting wide eyed and frightful, ignoring the little big-nosed boy and focusing only on the tall skeleton in the dark robe and carrying a scythe. Grim continued to slip forward, coming up behind Lazlo and crew as Lazlo tried to finish the story.

"He slowly twisted the knob, taking a peek at what was on the other side."

Both Raj and Clam took notice of the fear everyone had on their faces...and also noticed that no one was looking directly at them. They looked behind them to see what everyone was so afraid of.

"And do you know what was on the other side of that door?"

"Death!" Clam responded, eyes also wide in fear.

"Actually, Clam, it was the exit to the house. A bright and sunny day with a plethora of flowers and..."

"L-l-l-la-la...Lazlo..."

"Yes Raj?"

He looked over to Raj, noting that his eyes actually shrunk back into his head, his whole body shivering in fright. He looked over to the rest of the camp, everyone wide eyed and shivering with terror.

"Heheh, what's wrong with everyone? You all look like you've seen..."

"Death!" Clam finished, those being the only words he could utter at the moment.

"Heheh, I didn't mean to scare you all, it was just a harmless..."

"Uh, excuse me."

Hearing a voice from behind him, Lazlo finally turned to see what everyone was staring at. He looked up just in time to see a flash of lightning cover the sky, the Grim Reaper standing right behind him. The flash from the lightning reflected off of Grim's blade, a clean shimmer emanating from it. Lazlo couldn't say a word, his sense now gone from him as he stared up into the sockets of death.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I have come to..."

"AAAAAHHH!" Raj exclaimed, " HE'S COME TO KILL US!"

Out of no where, just as Raj said this, Billy pointed to them all and started to shout.

"AAAAAHHH! TALKIN' ANIMEUUUUUUUULS!"

"AAAAAHHH!"

"GYAAAAAH!"

"WAAAAAH!"

"NEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone instantly started to scatter from the area, the Jellys included, as Billy started running around in circles around Grim. Grim simply stood there, sort of proud of being able to induce such fear from appearance alone, but also annoyed that this kept happening.

At the sound of all of this chaos, Scoutmaster Lumpus ran out of his cabin, incredibly steamed that his sleep had been disturbed.

"Okay, WHAT is GOING ON out here? You Bean Scouts are in sooo much trouble now; you're ALL in deep..."

Having finally stopped at the area where the Beans once were, Lumpus saw personally as to what had caused such fear to come forth. His sentence stopped just as quickly as his advancement.

"Good, you must be the leader of this outfit. I came here to get..."

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

At that scream, Lumpus turned tail and ran back to his cabin, racing up to his room and under his bed.

"Slinkmaaaaan! He's come for me! He's finally come for me! I'm not ready to die!"

Stirring from his sleep, Slinkman rose up and went to see what the matter was.

"Uh...who's come for you, sir?"

"HE has come for me, Slinkman! I'm too young to die!"

Lumpus hopped into his bed and covered himself with all of his sheets.

"If he comes a knockin', my life he's not a stoppin'! You can take my place if he comes."

Slinkman simply looked at the scoutmaster, the moose shivering in fear under his covers.

"Yeah...I'll keep that in mind, sir."

With that, Slinkman went back to his own room, feeling that Lumpus simply had a bad dream. Outside, though, Grim stood out by the small story area, light rain starting to fall down over him...and Billy STILL running around him.

"Maybe I should avoid these animal cartoons altogether," he said to himself, forming another portal, "I'm beginning to think that these creatures don't think too fond of me."

As he walked through the portal, Billy continued to run around in a circle, still screaming in fear. Grim reached out through the portal and yanked Billy through, just as the rain began to pour heavily over the camp.

Meanwhile

Back inside of Ed's room, Eddy and Mandy continued their little face-off. Mandy stood unwavering to Eddy, who enjoyed having someone near him that was smaller than he was.

"My, I think that you could cut the tension here with a knife," Edd commented.

"No no, Double D, as then you could not use it to butter my toast."

"The only thing that's going to get cut," Eddy stated, "Is little miss Gothica over here. You are not gonna just waltz in here and take all of this over."

"Doubt me," she replied, "and you will soon see."

"We don't need anymore bossy little girls in our wake; we get enough of that already!"

Just then, Ed's door was kicked in, a little girl stomping her way into the domicile.

"ED!"

Fear in his face, Ed crouched down beside his chair.

"Yes, oh dear sweet sister who shows me not peace."

"Why do I hear more than these two in your room?! Who else do you have in here?!"

She looked over to Mandy just long enough to recognize the fourth person as the continued yelling at Ed.

"Who is that supposed to be?! Mom says that, until you're 18, you're not supposed to have a girl in your room unless it's me!"

"And I thought my show was the only one with innuendo."

Double D gave Mandy a questionable look just then as Eddy walked over to Sarah.

"Look Sarah, she's nobody, AND she was just about to leave. Now beat it! We've got business to conduct."

With this, he shoved her out the room and closed the door. As he turned to go back to his friends, the door swung open furiously, crushing Eddy behind it.

"You'd better not be planning anything funny, mister, or I'm telling mom!"

She closed the door behind her, a flat bodied Eddy slipping down and across the floor.

"I know that had to hurt," Mandy commented, "Well, at least you now have an ugly floor mat to walk on."

Popping up off the ground, Eddy glared at Mandy as he reached and pulled Double D towards him.

"Why don't you make like an egg and scram? We've got business to conduct."

Pulling Ed over to him as well, he moved over to Ed's bed with them.

"Boys, I'm tellin' ya, this is gonna be a scam to remember."

"This," Mandy spoke, walking over to them, "I gotta see."

So, what is it that Eddy has planned? Will Sarah really tell on Ed?

"Will the Narrator ever stop asking questions when he finishes another chapter? Well, if you can call these chapters."

Huh, looks like Edd was right.

"Yup. He took the intellectual part of your introduction, and I'm here to..."

Hassle me with something I did wrong? Critique what more could have been added? Toy with my sanity much more than it's already been?

"...well, I was going to just sit back and let you know that you did better than last time...but all of those choices seem fine as well."

Great...anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Providing that he'll be mentally stable enough to continue next time."

Oh, don't worry, I'll be just fine.

"We'll see."


	7. Chapter 7

1Realms Adjoined: Una Galleta Para Tu Pensamientos

"So, with the three over at the bed and awaiting Eddy's details, Mandy walked over to find out more about…"

Uh, Mandy, mind if I do my own start to this?

"What? It's obvious that you were going to start that way."

But it's MY story, so I should be the one to tell it.

"Don't forget that you're using other people's characters for 'your' story. But, go ahead, narrate away."

Thank you. So, with the three over at the bed and awaiting Eddy's details, Mandy walked over to find out more about this scheme he had planned.

"See? Repetition wasn't needed for something I already told them."

"Who is she talking to?" Ed asked, "Could she be a spy from an alien planet whose sole purpose is to drain the puss from our uvula to fuel their refrigerators?"

"Umm, Ed, you should really stop watching those late night horror movies."

"I'll drain the puss from both of your uvulas," Eddy stated, ignoring Double D's comment, "if you don't shut it already! Now, behold the delicacy that will help us rake in the dough."

Grabbing Ed's bed sheets, he yanked as hard as he could, revealing the item that would be used to make him money. Mandy stood at the foot of the bed, closest to Double D, as she peered at the money making mechanism. Double D leaned in closer, observing the design of the object.

"Is that a…"

"…COOKIE!"

Finishing Edd's question, Ed made a dive, mouth wide open, at the confection upon his bed. Intercepting him, Eddy shot a fist right down his throat, sending big Ed down to the floor, gagging a little from the punch.

"THAT was a knuckle sandwich, lumpy," Eddy stated, shaking the saliva off of his fist as he picked up the delicacy, "THIS is what's going to make us a lot of dough, and WE don't even have to use any."

Holding it for all to see, the cookie in question was the size of a Frisbee…mostly because it was a Frisbee; two Frisbees, to be exact. The top and bottom discs had been painted to look like that of an Oreo cookie. Between the discs was a fluffy substance, looking as though it had been pulled from the inside of a couch. To the unobservant, it looked just like a jumbo sized Oreo cookie.

"Eddy," Double D began, "Where in the world did you get this?"

"Like it?" he responded, "I made it the other day while I was over at the junkyard. Someone threw out a box of Frisbees and an old couch. Using some markers and paint that I had lying around, I came up with this!"

"And someone just happened to throw all of this away for you to conveniently find?" Mandy asked, "It looks to me like some set up a plot device to finally move things along?"

"Hey, one man's trash is another man's treasure, and I claimed all the booty for my own. We'll be swimmin' in jawbreakers by the end of the day."

Having sat by the bed this entire time, Ed finally stopped poking around at his throat before speaking again.

"I think the puss from my uvula is leaking guys…do you need some Mandy? I wouldn't want your turkey going bad."

"No thanks, Ed," she responded, "My turkey's probably doing something stupid right now; he's too dumb to be bad."

"ED!"

Making herself known before even entering the basement, all four of them could hear Sarah as she burst through the upstairs door.

"Oh no! She has returned to torment Ed! I must save me before I am a goner!"

He ran over to the three and, in one motion, grabbed them all up under his arms.

"No girls in my room or Sarah brings her doom!"

Stomping through his room, he made a jump for his window and hit the wall, the four of them feeling it as well. Without falling, he forced himself up the wall and went outside, squeezing them all through the window just as Sarah opened his door again. Seeing no one there, she smiled satisfyingly as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Meanwhile

Appearing in multicolored flashes, Billy and Grim stood in the middle of a small suburban neighborhood…well, Grim was standing, at least. Billy was still running in a circle around Grim. Tiring of this senseless action, Grim stuck out the end of his scythe, tripping Billy right in the middle of the road.

"Hey," Billy said, his nose smashed up against his face, "that wasn't very nice."

"And your screamin' was gettin' annoying," Grim responded, I guess we're even now."

Billy started to look around a bit as he got off of the ground, shaking his head and causing his nose to return to its regular fullness.

"So Grim, do you think Mandy's somewhere around here?"

"I don't know, Billy. I guess we'll have to go to one of these houses and find out."

"Oh, okay! Let's try that one!"

Running off on his own, Grim could do nothing more than watch as he made his way to the closest house on the street. Without a moment of pause, Billy began to knock rapidly on the door the moment he got there.

"Okay Billy, that's enough," Grim said, pulling the boy aside as he reached the doorstep, "I'll handle this one. The last time you did this, you didn't find out anything. Let me give it a shot."

Standing tall and adjusting his robe, Grim gave a few slight knocks on the front door. In an annoyed voice, he heard someone respond on the other side.

"Alright, alright, I'm comin'. Sheesh, this had better be important, interruptin' my cartoons this time of morning. Whoever it is, I outta kick your…"

The door opened then, the occupant going silent when he saw who was standing before him. Both Grim and Billy were surprised as well when they saw who had answered them.

"Oooooh, a chicken," Billy said in surprise, "hey, are we in another world where animals can talk? Just how many of these places are there?"

"Uh, hello there," Chicken began nervously, sweat starting to drop from his forehead and wattle, "Might I ask as to why you are here?"

"Good morning," Grim started, surprisingly cheery, "I came here to look for a little girl; I was wondering if you had seen her."

"Yeah," Billy added, "she's a good friend of ours."

"Uh…huh…excuse me."

Chicken slammed the door in both of their faces, the two of them hearing him call out to someone else in the house.

"Hey, Cow! It's for you!"

In a matter of seconds, the door opened again, this time a large yellow cow with brown spots greeting them.

"Oh, hello there, may I help you?"

"Umm, yes," Grim began, already questioning in his mind the way things were going, "I'm in search of a little girl. You see, I've been looking for her for quite some time now."

"Oh, really now," Cow asked, backing up a little, "Please, excuse me for a moment."

She politely closed the door, neither Grim nor Billy hearing much from inside of the house.

"Where do you think they went?"

"I don't know, Billy, but I have a bad feeling about…"

Before he could finish his statement, the door opened again, a figure jumping out and knocking them both back a bit. Dressed in purple tights and a small green cape, a cow stood before the two, the letter C upon her chest. Her udders poked out from her costume as she stood heroically before them.

"Supercow, al rescate!"

"Oh no," Grim uttered, already fearing for the worst.

"What did she say? I no speak no Espanoley."

"You hardly speak the English language correctly."

"Usted no tomará las vidas de cualquier persona en esta casa, tomador de almas ¡Yo bato a diablo, y le batiré también!"

At this call, she quickly assaulted both of them, jumping on top of them both. Crushed under her weight, they instantly realized that she was not going to help them on their quest.

"¡Sienta las udders de la fuerza, y beba la leche de la justicia!"

She smacked them in their faces with her udders, throwing in regular punches at random intervals. Then, to finish them off, she shot a massive blast of milk at the two, sending them sprawling into the street.

"¡Somos demasiado jóvenes morir! ¡Siempre y cuando protejo a esta familia, nuestras almas no serán tomadas tan fácilmente!"

Leaving them in the road, she flew back into her house, giving out one final call as she did so.

"¡Supercow! ¡Mooooo!"

They watched as she went back inside, the two of them finally rising from the ground. Billy shook himself off like a dog just as Grim squeezed the milk from his robes.

"You know, I'm thinkin' that animals don't like us," Billy commented, "Tasty milk, though."

"Ugh, taken down by a bovine brute," Grim added, "quite humiliating."

"Yeah…tell me about it."

They both turned to the side at the sound of the extra comment. Laying on the ground next to them in a crimson mound, a red and devilish figure lay in defeat.

"Eewww," Billy said aloud, "who are you?"

"Don't even worry about him, Billy," Grim said, opening the portal again, "He's supposed to be a devil, but obsession in exhibition makes him even more pathetic than…"

"Than you Grim?"

Grim sighed as he and Billy began to walk through the portal.

"Yes, Billy, even more pathetic than me."

Leaving in the same multicolored flash as before, the Red Guy looked up from his pain.

"Ouch, I think that hurt worse than the beating I just took from Supercow…"

He tried to rise from the ground, but a snap from his back forced him to lie still again.

"…nope, THIS hurts much, much worse."

And so, with a scam planned and another world visited, so ends another chapter in this great story.

"So, you're finally addressing them as chapters?"

Yes, Mandy, I am.

"Hmm…pardon my analysis, but these don't really seem like 'chapters' that you're writing. If they were a bit longer, then it just might seem that way."

The length is just fine for now, Edd. I may add in some length down the line, but I'm satisfied with how it's being written.

"Alright, if you say so…and try to give us bigger parts in the next 'chapter;' neither one of us spoke that much this time around."

Well, you did try to start the story without me.

"Yes, and I shouldn't have to if you'd include us in it more."

It's ABOUT you, remember?

"My point exactly."

Yeah, well...anyway, make sure to stay attentive for the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"And why exactly do we do this Mandy? Well, other than it being fun, of course."

"Have you taken notice of the writers of the show as of late? If someone else is going to try their hand at artistic creation, then it had better be something worth my time."

"Oh, so you think that the narrator may have potential?"

"I still don't know yet. I'll wait a little while longer before deciding."


	8. Chapter 8

Realms Adjoined: Disputable Day in the Neighborhood

A lone warrior traversed the plains of the world before him, much having been seen and done since his arrival. He knew not as to where he would go next, but only knew that he had to find a way to defeat his sworn enemy and return to the past.

The plains in which he walked were surprisingly green and placid, an ironic contrast to the barren land and bare hills within the distance. He lifted his head to the sky but for a moment, taking notice of the noon sun above him. A cool breeze kissed his skin, so as to help alleviate him on this travels. He gave a soft sigh, smiling at the peace that was briefly given to him.

From behind him, a slight crackling sound could be heard, multicolored flashes apparent from his peripheral vision. In one brief motion, he grabbed the sword at his side and turned, withdrawing it as he did so, and pointed it directly at the one behind him. Fully turned, he called out the name of the one he felt had suddenly appeared.

"Aku!"

"Gesundheit."

The man looked in the direction where that word came from, seeing a big nosed boy smiling at him. As he looked down the end of his sword, he saw a creature, a skeleton, bent back a bit to avoid the blade pointed at him.

"Uh, look mon," the creature spoke, "Mind getting that sword of yours out of my face? I didn't come here to fight."

"Oh, my apologies," the warrior said, pulling back his sword, "I thought that you were someone else, someone that uses magic in a way similar to yours."

"Hey mister," the little boy began, "where are we? What place is this? Who are you? And why are you in a bathrobe like Grim?"

The warrior placed his sword back in its sheath as he answered.

"As far as I know, this is a great ways into the future. I don't know my exact location, however. They call me Jack, and I am a samurai that was thrown into this futuristic world by a shape shifting demon named Aku. I must defeat him before I am able to find my way back to the past. And this is not a bathrobe."

"Oh yeah," came Grim's interjection to the conversation, "I've heard of you. You're the one with the magical sword forged by the Gods. I prefer a scythe myself."

"And how exactly do you know all of this?" came Jack's reply. Billy, jumping up and down now, was all to willing to oblige with the answer.

"Oh, he's the Grim Reaper. The carrier of souls, the bringer of death…and my best friend forever!"

"Ugh, his reminders are constant, and always annoying. Anyway, we came all of this way to find out if anyone's seen another 'friend' of ours. She's a little girl with blonde hair, a pink dress, and a horrid attitude."

"Yeah!" Billy exclaimed, finishing up Grim's description, "Her name is Mandy!"

"My apologies," Jack began, as a show of respect and as an apology for his earlier actions, "but I have seen no such person on my journey. I have been traveling on my own for a few days now, and have not met many others as of yet."

"Aww," Billy said, sad at his response, "all alone with no friend in the world. It must really be sad. Oh well, thanks for the info, Samurai Jack. Grim, let's go."

Grim sighed, shaking his head as he addressed the samurai warrior.

"I give you my own apologies for his idiocy. He may not seem that annoying now, but a couple of seasons with him can really drive you nuts."

Another astounding flash emanated from behind them, a tall and dark being rising from the ground. It towered above the three, its flaming eyebrows and beard casting weird shadows upon the ground. Jack stepped past Billy and Grim, a look of determination coming across his features.

"Aku!"

"Well well well," the tall being spoke, arms folded in front of him, "If it isn't my old nemesis, Samurai Jack. And what do we have here? An idiot and an incarnation of Death. I've tried calling on you since all of this began, and yet you dare ignore my command. Very well then, if you won't do what I've asked for so long, if you are to deny me my satisfaction, then I shall…"

"Umm," Billy interrupted, "excuse me, Mr. Tall-and-dark-entity-of-evil-towering-above-us-and-almost-causing-me-to-wet-my-pants? Your eyebrows are on fire…and they look COOL!"

"Oh? Why, thank you. It's this new style that I've been trying out for the past few centuries and…" 

"Enough!" Jack shouted, unsheathing his sword, "Your time comes to an end now Aku!"

Sword in hand, Jack leapt at the evil being, Aku dodging his slash just in time.

"Come, foolish warrior, if Death will not reap your soul, then I will!"

In retaliation, the evil being swiped at Jack with his massive clawed hands, only to have Jack slash him on the wrist. Screaming in pain, Aku withdrew his hand briefly before extending each of his fingers directly in Jack's direction, deadly spikes coming down towards the samurai. Jack dodged each attempt made, taking any chance there was to damage the demon. 

"Uh, Billy," Grim said, making a portal as he inched backwards, "I think it's time that we leave."

"Aww, and just when it was gettin' good?"

"Yes Billy," Grim responded, grabbing Billy up and walking through the portal, "that's how these things always work."

The two travelers now gone, Aku changed himself into a raven, flying well above Jack's reach.

"There," he taunted, flying in circles above him, "Now you have no chance of asking for an escape from this place. I won't give you any chance to return to your home, foolish warrior, and you have not heard the last of me!"

At those words, Aku flew off as quickly as he could, leaving Jack on the ground to stare up at his fleeing foe. He took note of what Aku had said and, indeed, realized that those two just may have held the opportunity for him to return home.

Sighing to himself, he sheathed his sword and continued on his journey, always to search for a way to undo the future that the nefarious demon had created in his absence.

Meanwhile

In front of his room window, Ed finally let the three of them go, all of them falling in a heap on the ground: Eddy to his left, and Mandy on top of Double D to his right.

"First floor," he shouted, "everybody off."

He looked around at the three and, seeing the 'cookie' in Eddy's hand, began to shout again.

"Cookie!"

Before he could even react, Eddy jumped off the ground and smacked Ed as hard as he could with the 'cookie' in his possession.

"Ya big lummox…okay, since we're already out here, let's go get this show on the road."

Mandy pushed herself off of Edd, dusting herself off as Edd also began to rise. He had a slight blush on his face, realizing that Mandy had landed on top of him.

"Hey, Casanova, quit lazing around and let's go. We have to get those cookies made and decorated over at my house. This was the only one that I made, and I'm sure that the kids'll want many more 'flavors' come time for shop to open up."

"But Eddy," Double D objected, "What about Mandy? We can't just leave her here. She's new to the neighborhood, after all."

"And?! If she's so new, then let her get to know everyone on her own. WE have work to do. Come on Ed, and grab Double D."

Standing back up from the earlier blow, Ed shuffled over to Double D, throwing him over his shoulder.

"My apologies Mandy," Double D explained, Mandy having her usual unexpressive expression on her face, "they can be quite persuasive at times. I'm sure that everyone here will take a liking to you."

"Yeah," Mandy responded, "I get to see if you overly descriptive notations hold any truth. I guess I'll see you when it's time to deceive the masses."

"Sure," Eddy commented, "you'll see us, and you'll also see just how well we roll in the dough. Financial liquidity, here we come."

As Eddy ran off to his house, Ed followed after him, Double D over his shoulder.

"Ahahah, liquidy," Ed laughed, "Are we going to have milk for the cookies, Eddy?"

Double D smacked his hand on his forehead at Ed's misinterpretation of the word Eddy used. As the three ran off, Mandy walked over to the sidewalk, now noticing that the children of the Cul-de-Sac were out and about.

"How convenient," she said to herself. 

"Actually, I was talking to you. How convenient that the kids come out right as the Dover Boys go off on their inane venture."

Yeah, the show's like that at times. Anyway, with Grim and Billy still searching for their lost friend, Mandy is now set to meet the kids of the Cul-de-Sac at her own discretion.

"Again, how convenient."

Anyway, to find out just how well the kids take to her presence in Peach Creek, make sure to stay attentive to the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"It's amazing how little time I got in this story. You're getting slack in what you're doing."

Hey, you have practically half of the next one all to yourself…well, with the inclusion of a few others. It shouldn't be all that bad.

"Yeah, well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"


	9. Chapter 9

Realms Adjoined: Skim, Scam, Thank You Ma'am

It was noon within the Cul-de-Sac, and all of the children were out at play. Six heads could be accounted for as Mandy made her way to the large circle where most of the kids had occupied. Looking down the street to Eddy's house, she saw no sign of the three that had left her there.

"Hey! It's a new kid!"

She looked over in the direction of the voice, seeing a balding kid in sandals walk up to her with a piece of wood in tow. Everyone now looking in her direction, she gave a half hearted wave as she greeted them all with her own style of exuberance:

"Hey."

"Why hello there," came a greeting to her right, from a boy sporting a poofy hairstyle and a ring brace around his face, "Welcome to the Cul-de-Sac, here in quaint little Peach Creek. How long have been in town?"

"Long enough, Jimmy," the girl beside him replied, starting to walk over to Mandy. Mandy had recognized her as the one called Sarah from back inside of Ed's room.

"What were you doing in my brother's room? No girls are allowed down there unless I say so."

"So I take it that you're his keeper, huh?" Mandy retorted, "Well, don't worry, I don't have any interest in him, in case that's what you were getting at."

"Don't mind her," a tall blonde stated, "She's like that to a lot of people. Anyway, I'm Nazz."

Nazz then began to point out individual kids as she told Mandy their names.

She pointed to the guy standing beside her in a red cap, "This is Kevin," then to a tall boy with blue hair, "That's Rolf," then to the balding kid, "That's Johnny," then to the boy with braces, "That's Jimmy," and finally to the girl standing in front of Mandy, "And that's Sarah."

"Gee, thanks," Mandy said in an unenthusiastic tone, "that's the second time that I've been introduced to everyone. Double D already gave me the rundown on who you all were."

"You have already met with Double D Ed boy?" Rolf spoke up, "Oh ho, you have been here long enough then, as the smart Edd boy likes to rise as early as Rolf's chickens."

"Yeah," Kevin added, "Those dorks are like death and taxes: you just can't seem to avoid 'em."

"I know all to well when it comes to the Grim Reaper, jock-head," Mandy quipped, responding to Kevin before turning to Rolf, "And are you supposed to have a Green Card or something?"

Rolf's eyes grew wide as he answered her question, sweating nervously.

"Green Card? Why, uh, yes, Rolf's family does have a Green Card. We brought it over with Nana and the sausage, yes?"

"Hey," Johnny interrupted, "You forgot to introduce her to Plank," he then held Plank forward in Mandy's direction, "He's my bestest buddy."

"And the only ethnicity in these parts, I take it," Mandy commented, "other than the blue haired boat rider over there."

"My goodness," Jimmy began to remark, "You've got quite a quick wit and tongue. You should try being more lady like, shouldn't she Sarah?"

"Humph, I guess she just doesn't know how to act like one, Jimmy."

"I've seen how loud you can get," Mandy retorted, "and with a mouth that big, there's already a place for 'ladies' like you in the world."

Everyone grew silent and wide eyed at that risky remark, Sarah's mouth agape from shock.

"You're only helping to prove my point, you now."

"You can't say things like that to me!" Sarah yelled.

"I can, I will, and I just did…"

Mandy began to walk through the crowd then, heading in the direction of Eddy's house.

"…chances are that I'll see you all a little later anyway. If you're up for a lesson in humility, I'll be around. To the rest of you, ciao."

All anyone could do was look as she left them, no one really knowing what to say.

"Well…uh…," Nazz tried.

"You said it Plank." Johnny commented, everyone now turning to him.

"Sure," Kevin remarked, placing his hands in his pockets to shrug the whole thing off, "Let's go with that."

Meanwhile

Location: The Middle of Nowhere

"Would you like some more tea?"

Grim held up his cup as he responded, Billy sitting in the chair next to him.

"Oh, yes, thank you."

Billy was enjoying a nice plate of cookies as he complimented the host.

"Tmphu pumden hohnips, Msss Mrl…"

"Please, darlin', don't talk with your mouth full."

By her request, Billy swallowed the mouthful of cookies and tried his compliment again.

"Thank you for the cookies, Miss Muriel ma'am. They are deliciichiichiouls."

"Oh, you're quite welcome," Muriel responded, "After hearing all that ya had been through, I felt that you two could use a nice little rest."

"Thank you so much for the hospitality," Grim began, "I'm sure to remember this come a few years down the line."

"Oh, my, yes, and I do hope that you have better luck in finding this Mandy girl that you're looking for."

The sound of a toilet flushing came from within the house, a purplish pink dog coming into the room with a small square of toilet paper still attached to his foot. After shaking away the stubborn square, he looked up and saw Muriel…standing directly beside the Grim Reaper.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He had jumped into the air, mouth wide and eyes bulging, at the sight of Death sitting at their table, and thusly fainted afterwards.

"Oh, Courage!"

"It's okay," Grim commented, "I seem to get that reaction a lot from animals."

"Yeah," Billy agreed, before stuffing his face with more cookies, "this has happened twice already…well, three, if you count that milk incident. Udders can hurt."

"Muriel!" came a cry from the other room, "What's going on in there? What's wrong with that stupid dog now? And where's me dinner?"

"Oh, Eustace, it isn't even noon yet."

"Well," Eustace began, setting down his paper and getting up from his chair, "Where's me breakfast then?"

As Eustace walked into the kitchen, he saw the exact same thing that Courage had seen: His wife standing right beside the Grim Reaper.

"WAAAAAAAAAHH, he's come to get me!"

Eustace ran out of the room screaming, going straight up to his bedroom and hiding beneath the covers.

"I get that type of reaction too," Grim commented, taking another sip of his tea.

"Oh my," was all that Muriel could say at this point. Finishing his tea, Grim opened a portal next to him.

"Well, thank you again for showing us such nice hospitality."

"Oh, you are quite welcome. Be sure to stop by again sometime."

"Oh, I will," Grim commented, walking through the portal, "But not too soon. You've got a nice life ahead of you."

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say."

"And thanks again for tha cookies!" Billy complimented, running after Grim. With the two now gone, she sat at the kitchen table and poured herself a cup of tea, Courage still unconscious on the floor.

"Such a nice entity is that one, and an interesting young lad as well. I do hope that they find the one they're looking for."

Indeed, with so many places visited already, they are also hoping to find their friend…well, Billy is, at least. Where will they end up next? And what exactly is Mandy up to now? To find out, make sure to stay attentive to the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Huh? Courage?

"Yeah, me, Courage. You just came by to give us a scare and go? That's very rude of you."

How are you able to talk to me?

"Did you forget my show already? I talk to the viewer all the time."

"Even the dog is getting at you this time. What did you do now? Or, better yet, what did you not do this time?"

Oh, Mandy, it just wouldn't be the same without you. Wait, how do you two know each other?

"Well, remember when we were the ones hosting Cartoon Cartoon Fridays? I was a host one night, and that's when I met Mandy."

Ah, well, that explains a bit. Alright, you two, let's call an end to this one already.

"Oh, sure, she's actually in the story, and my only appearance is a scream. What a rip."

"Don't worry, Courage. Maybe you'll have a bigger part in a future story that he writes."

"Yeah, maybe…but not likely."

Chin up Courage; there's always hope.

"Yeah, sure."


	10. Chapter 10

Realms Adjoined: The Bake-Ed Plans of Mice and Men

Location: Aron City

The Aron City Park: not exactly the most "happening" spot in town, it's a rather peaceful haven for those who want to relax…take a stroll…

"…for a so called 'artist' and narrator to rip off a previous narration nearly word-for-word from the show itself."

I'm not 'ripping off' the show, Mandy, simply paying homage to a classic opener. Plus, I said "park" and not "zoo."

"Which is why I said 'nearly.' So tell me, is 'paying homage' a new ay of saying 'steal' these days?"

Look girl, will you just let me get on with this?

"Uh, 'girl'? I have a name, you know. But fine, boy, I'll go wait in my part of the story."

Thank you…anyway, it was an afternoon in the park of Aron City, and a warm one at that. All around, children could be seen at play, with various others both male and female enjoying the beautiful day…

…some hoping to enjoy it more than others.

Standing on the grass, sporting a black T-Shirt, blue jeans, black shoes, and a pair of shades, a muscular blonde continued to switch poses in order to show off his body. Every time a female walked by, he would change into a new position, hoping to get noticed by the ladies around him.

He never even noticed the multicolored flash appear right beside him, nor the two individuals that came with it.

"Well," Grim started, taking a look around, "at least there doesn't seem to be any animals around this time around…"

As he spoke, a comely figure jogged past him, Grim's attention briefly following behind the athletic female.

"…and the view is nice as well."

"Ooh," Billy commented, "that one looks like the girls in my dad's magazines."

"Uh, excuse me…"

Billy and Grim turned, now noticing the blonde that began to speak.

"…you two are kinda makin' me look bad right now. HUAH!"

Grim jumped back a little at the sudden exclamation of the blonde, Billy falling altogether as the man changed into a different pose.

"If you could just step aside…I'm sure to have better bearings on beckoning these babes."

"Ooh," Billy commented again, "he kinda looks like the guys in my mom's magazines."

"Great," Grim started, looking down to Billy, "The one other time you read anything and it just happens to be material you're not old enough to see. Let's just get this over with."

Grim then turned his attention back to the blonde.

"Excuse me, but I have a question for you."

"Look man," the blonde began, "can't you see that I'm…"

The man looked up for once, actually looking at Grim for the first time. He jumped back a little, surprised by the face he was seeing.

"…whoa mamma! You could really use some lotion for that skin 'a yours, man…and some eyeballs wouldn't hurt either."

"I can see just fine, thank you," Grim responded, "Anyway…umm, who are you, anyway?"

"Why, you're talking to the one, the only…Johnny Bravo. Heh hah HUAH!"

After saying his name, Johnny finished by rapidly moving into three different poses, staying in the last one for effect.

"Uh, right, if you say so," Grim continued, "Anyway, we're looking for a little girl, and were wondering if you had seen her."

"If you're a friend of Suzy's, then you may as well go on now, 'cause I ain't seen nobody."

"Suzy?" Billy said, reacting to Johnny's comment, "Oh no, we're looking for Mandy. She's blonde and small and wears pink and hardly ever smiles and has a bad attitude and was thrown into an interdimensional vortex from which we have no clue where she went and now we're looking for her so that I can gets me some hunny so have you seen her?"

"Look kid," Johnny started, "the only chicks I'm looking for are the ones who can use some of my special brand of lovin'. So, if ya don't mind, I got some work to take care of."

Instantly, he zipped off to a woman that just passed by, taking her into his arms and grasp.

"Hey, pretty mamma, I notice you lookin' pretty hot in them jeans; why don't you let me cool ya down for a bit?"

Without a word, the girl kneed him in the stomach, punched him in the chest and, with him letting go of her, grabbed him by the hair and slammed him on the ground headfirst. She then walked off as if nothing happened, leaving Johnny's body in the air as Billy and Grim looked at his upside-down figure.

"Ouch," Billy began, "if that's your work, then I wouldn't want your job."

"At his working rate," Grim finished, opening a portal, "I'll be back here pretty soon anyway. Let's go Billy."

At that, the two left from that area, Johnny falling to the found.

"Well, ain't that rip," Johnny groaned, "the one part I get in this story, and it's to be beaten up. Well, maybe I ought to return the favor."

And with that…wait, what?

"You heard me! How would you like to…"

Hey, look over there! 36-22-34!

"Pamela Anderson? Where? I'm there man!"

And, with those words, Johnny Bravo left Aron City Park, off to pursue more women for the day…and so I can get out of here without trouble.

Meanwhile

Leaving the kids at play, and in amazement by her words, Mandy now traversed the sidewalk in the direction of Eddy's house. Just as she made it to his driveway, big Ed came from behind the house carrying a small booth in his wake. Slamming it down in front of Mandy, he jovially put on a baker's had and called back the house.

"Steady and ready, Eddy! Ahahah."

At the call, Eddy quickly ran forward, hands filled with the special "cookies" that he had set out for this scam. Already clad in his baker's had, he placed a few on the booth and smiled greatly, money signs already in his eyes. He then placed his trademark jar on the edge of the booth, awaiting customers.

"You're actually going through with this, aren't you?"

"You bet I am sister!" Eddy responded, grinning mischievously to Mandy, "I'm gonna rake in the dough with this scam, and I didn't even have to use any. Hey sockhead! Hurry up!"

Calling back to his house, Edd finally came around, clad in baker's hat, and gave Eddy a small cologne bottle that he had made for this venture.

"All is set, Eddy. Just spray a little of this and it'll help bring in the customers."

"Oh yeah," Eddy exclaimed, grabbing the bottle from Double D, "Let's get this show on the road!" 

Jumping on the table, he started to rapidly spray the fragrant aroma all through the air. It had the actual allure of freshly baked cookies, the smell slowly making its way through the Cul-de-Sac.

"Uh, Edd," Mandy questioned, "You do realize the apparent fallacy of this plan, don't you?"

"Oh yes," Double D replied, "I came to see it about three chapters ago when the plan was first introduced."

"And yet you still decide to go along with it?"

"It's the only way to advance the plot. Besides, I want to see just how soon this all goes downhill."

"Hey you two," Eddy yelled, "I'm tryin' to run a business here! Keep your comments to yourself, cause here comes the suckers."

"Not suckers, Eddy," Ed grinned, "Cookies!"

Sniffing the sweet smell of culinary delights in the air, the kids of the Cul-de-Sac approached the Eds' booth. In usual fashion, Eddy used his vocal volume to pitch the sale of the fashioned Frisbee foodstuff.

"Welcome to the Ed's Cookie Cichen! We've got cookies of all types and sizes: drop, rolled, baked, and other surprises! Special delights all made to order…"

He then held up his jar as he finished the advertisement.

"…and it can be yours, for only a quarter…each."

"Gravy!"

Everyone turned for a moment at Ed's exclamation, seeing him actually consume one of the 'cookies' that they had prepared. His particular cookie, however, was dripping with gravy and already had a bite missing out of it.

Looking at him for only a few more seconds, the kids all began to talk amongst themselves as to what they wanted to try. It wasn't until Jimmy started to look at the products questionably that a nostalgic realization kicked in.

"Sarah," Jimmy began, "Something's wrong here. I'm getting that weird feeling, like they did this once before."

Taking his words into consideration, Sarah reached up and took a chocolate chip 'cookie' from off the counter.

"Hey, no free samples!" Eddy exclaimed, reaching after her. His efforts were too late, however, as one brief bite at the disc confirmed Jimmy's hunch.

"These are fakes!" she yelled, "Eddy, you idiot, who do you think you're trying to fool?"

At this discovery, the kids started to mutter to themselves of this latest scam, slowly starting to walk away.

"Those dorks are really starting to run out of ideas, huh Nazz?"

"Yeah Kevin; I mean, fake cookies? How lame."

"Rolf is also upset, as the pastry of baked dough would have gone well with the stew of Nana's radishes."

"You can say that again, Plank; these guys just don't know when to quit."

"Wow," Edd muttered, "that was over quicker than I thought it would be."

"Aww, you've gotta be kidding me!" Eddy yelled, dropping down to the ground, "All that work, and we didn't even get anywhere?" 

"Uh, guys, I think I got indigestion," Ed replied, taking another bite from his gravy 'cookie' despite his comment.

"Come on guys!" Eddy shouted, running to the sidewalk and shouting after the kids, "These cookies are great, we've got sugar and spritz…"

"…why don't you guys just go call it quits?" Mandy finished, walking up to the booth, "I know how to make some money off of these."

"You do?" Double D asked.

"You do?" Eddy asked.

"Too true." Ed commented.

"Yeah," Mandy confirmed, "I do."

What possible plans could she have for selling these items? Can she really salvage the idea that Eddy came up with? The answer is soon to be revealed, so make sure to stay attentive to the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Indeed, this is something that I would like to see as well. Must I really wait until the next chapter to find out?"

Yes, Edd, you do.

"If it's any consolation, Double D, it's something that will be a real catch with everyone."

"Hmm…a real catch…that a pretty good hint to what is going to happen next."

Yeah Mandy, you're not giving away THAT much of the story.

"Oh no, boy, I don't think I am."

Alright, fine, I apologize for saying "girl" at the beginning instead of your name.

"Good. See to it that it never happens again."

"These little conversational are always quite thrilling."

"Quite true, Double D, quite true."


	11. Chapter 11

Realms Adjoined: Disc Plan is Sure to Work

"My goodness Mandy, I seems as though you do have a keen knowledge on financial gain through marketing. We should have thought of this sooner."

Edd was still amazed as to the speed in which Mandy was able to sell the products from Ed's Cookie Cichen. Having Eddy's money jar in her grasp, the container was filled to the brim with quarters, Eddy looking on in amazement at the cash before him.

"It was a simple idea, Double D. I can understand why neither Ed nor Eddy could figure it out but, really, I expected more from someone of your intellect."

"Yes, well," Edd responded, "Eddy was always more of a big picture person and Ed…well, you can see for yourself."

Out within the Cul-de-Sac, the children were playing with the products that Eddy tried to pass off as food. As Mandy suspected, simply using the Frisbees for what they were would surely make more money than using them as fake edibles. Using the cologne from earlier, she had given each Frisbee cookie a coat of the fragrant liquid.

Using Ed for her demonstration, she showed just how well the Frisbees did as aromatic toys. She even gave a brief improvement to the color and design of the Frisbees to suit those with different tastes; more specifically, a Frisbee that looked and smelled of ham, just for Rolf.

For just $1.00 each, Mandy managed to give away enough toys to fill the jar with the coinage Eddy desired so much. Edd was in awe at her intelligence, and Ed was still out playing with the kids…well, trying to catch their Frisbees with his teeth.

"I've gotta hand it to ya, sister," Eddy complimented, "you don't do half bad when it comes to makin' some cash. Now then, about my take in all of this…"

It was then that Ed finally came back to his friends. Missing a jumping bite at a Frisbee, he landed head first into the booth that they had set up earlier…well, the booth AND Eddy. Edd looked on at this collapse, also curious as to how the money would be split.

"Yes, Mandy," Edd began, "How much of a share are we to receive in all of this?"

"Well," she began, "you did go through all the trouble of finding the materials, you set up shop, gave an advertisement, and even decorated the product nicely for selling. Then, after you failed, I had to come in and clean up your messes."

Bursting out of the debris and knocking Ed to the side, Eddy came and confronted Mandy.

"Hey, if it weren't for MY idea, you wouldn't have any of that in the first place. I say that WE are the ones that deserve the cash, not you."

"Don't worry," Mandy began as she reached into the jar, "you'll all get a share in the profits."

With that, she handed each of them a single quarter. Though Double D and Eddy looked surprised by this, Ed was a lot more jovial than his friends.

"Look guys!" Ed exclaimed, running in circles, "We got a whole quarter! Jawbreakers for Ed! Jawbreakers for Ed! Jawbreakers for…"

He didn't get to finish his statement, as Eddy's outstretched leg tripped big Ed and sent him face first into the sidewalk.

"ONE QUARTER?!" Eddy shouted, "After all that?"

"I must admit Mandy," Double D added, "This is less than 5 for each of us after all that had happened."

"Welcome to the harsh world of business management, boys," Mandy said, unmoved by nuisance and numbers, "Not all is fair when it comes down to cash."

"Oh yeah?" Eddy started, pushing his sleeve up to show his whole arm, "You won't be lookin' so fair after I'M through with ya, if you don't give me that money! What are we supposed to do with a SINGLE quarter each?!"

"You EACH could go buy gifts for us, ya know."

They all turned just then, Ed even lifting his head out of the sidewalk, to see three girls standing just a few feet away from them. One had long blonde hair, another had blue hair that covered one eye, and the one that spoke up earlier had red hair that covered her eyes. All three Eds looked up in surprise and horror just then.

"Kankers!"

At Ed's exclamation, he ran over to the aid of his friends, huddling between them.

"What," Mandy asked, "Someone has a sore or something?"

"Nah," the red head explained, "They always get like this when we come around; they're so cute when they think they can avoid us."

"Yeah Lee," the blue haired one spoke, "cute and sweet, right May?"

"Yeah Marie," the blonde named May spoke, "And speaking of sweets, something sure smells good here."

The red head known as Lee held up a stray cookie Frisbee that just happened to fly in her general direction.

"We smelt a bunch of baked goods coming from here," Lee spoke, "so we decided to pay you guys a visit."

"And when we saw this toy painted as a cookie," May continued, "we knew that you three had to be behind it all."

"You boys are so cute when you try to do stuff like this," Marie commented, "Who knew that you were such good cooks."

The three girls started to laugh amongst themselves as the Eds began to back away.

"I don't think you told me about these three, Double D," Mandy questioned, "Are they friends of yours, or would they happen to be more than that?"

"Are you kiddin'?" Eddy answered, "Us and them? Together?"

"Bad news for Ed," Ed stated, still shaking behind his friends.

"Aww, so modest," Lee responded, tossing aside the Frisbee.

"Come on boys," Marie called, stepping closer, "we decided to give you some sweets of our own." 

"Yeah!" May exclaimed, taking a step by her sister, "a couple of kisses, just for you!"

"And we ain't talkin' about the Hershey kind neither." Lee finished, stepping right along with her sisters.

"RUN AWAAAAAY!"

After the three screamed in unison, they headed off through the Cul-de-Sac, the Kanker sisters chasing right behind them. All Mandy could do was look questionably after them, the large jar of change still in her possession.

Meanwhile

Location:

"THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE!"

Wait, what?

"A wondrous city that is home to The Powerpuff Girls."

Hey, who are you?

"I'm the narrator, the one that tells just how things unfold on a daily basis here."

Uh huh…well, for this story, I'M the narrator. So maybe you should…

"Look, guy, I don't see you having any right to come here and try to take over my job."

No, YOU look, Sponge-Billy-Zim-Squirrel, I am the one that's writing all of this, so I should be the one to actually tell the story. Besides, your voice is already used many times over; give it a rest.

"My my, not one on manners, are we?"

Look, just let me narrate for now, alright? I'll be done momentarily, and I apologize for stealing your precious time.

"Hmm…alright, but I'll still be here, ya know."

Fine…anyway, within the city of Townsville, our two searchers materialize in a flash of multicolored light, appearing on the sidewalk of a small bit of suburbia.

"Okay," Grim spoke, annoyed already by the trip they had been taking, "Let's get this over with."

Walking up to the closest house on the street, Grim knocked on the door, Billy standing to his side.

"Gee, Grim, you don't look as though you're having fun anymore."

"Fun?" Grim questioned, "What's so fun about all of this? Rarely has there been a restful or calm period in all of this. I'm either dealing with attacking animals, annoying humans, or YOU in general. I just wanna survive this whole thing without getting beat up anymore."

Just as he spoke those words, the door opened, a man of cubic form appearing in a lab coat.

"Ah, yes, Professor Utonium, one of the smartest scientists in all of…"

Hey, Jake Lumpus, mind not interrupting?

"Well, I felt that it would be better to help inform the reader ahead of time to the characters in this, making it easier to read…and will you stop calling me such names?"

Hey, you're the one who voiced them. Anyway, back to the story, the man in the lab coat, Professor Utonium, answered the door.

"Yes," he spoke, "How may I…"

"Look mon," Grim interrupted, "I've got a few questions for you, so your cooperation would be very helpful in…"

Getting interrupted himself, Grim was taken aback by the man's sudden scream.

"AAAAAHHH! He's come to get me! All of my meddling with science has finally caught up to me!"

Instantly, three figured appeared in front of the man, each one of them having a specific color aura to them.

"Yes, those are the Powerpuff Girls! Blossom is the red head leader of the group with the red aura. Bubbles is the jovial blonde with a heart of gold and aura of blue. And Buttercup is the black hair powerhouse with a green glow about her."

Thank you again, Eduardo Raimundo Gibson. Now, back to the story, the three came zooming to the door, responding to the cries that the professor had made.

"What's wrong Professor?" Blossom asked, "Who's come to…"

She paused at the sight of the Grim Reaper, all three of them gasping at the same time.

"Oh no," Bubbles said worriedly, "it's the Grim Reaper!"

"Yeah, it is," Buttercup remarked, "Cool!"

"No, Buttercup," Blossom corrected, "He may have come her for the professor."

"Oh…then that's NOT cool!"

The three of them got into position, ready to fly right into a battle with Death itself. As Grim backed away, a worried look on his face, Billy stepped forward to set things straight.

"Okay, okay, I can see where some confusion may have gotten between us all, but allow me to clear it up. Now, Grim did not come here for some old scientist dude…we already dealt with one of those a good while back. Oh no, we came here looking for a little girl."

"What?!" the professor exclaimed, now worried for his daughters.

"Now now, let me explain," Billy began, "The girl we're looking for is short…kinda like them. Now, she wears a pink dress…"

"Blossom?!" the professor questioned, Billy continuing with his description.

"…she's got blonde hair…"

"Bubbles?!"

"…and she has a bad attitude."

"Buttercup?!"

"So, if you've seen any girls around like that…"

"Wait," Grim interrupted, wanting nothing more than to prevent any sort of fight between them, "I have not come to reap any souls, if that's what you're worried about. I just want to ask you a few questions. Please, may we come in?"

The professor and the Powerpuff girls gave looks to each other, each one question as to whether or not this was such a good idea. After talking it amongst themselves, they finally agreed to hear him alright.

"Okay," the professor said, "You can come in. Let's see what this is all about."

With that, Billy and Grim walked into Professor Utonium's home, the explanation of the day's events being told in full. What all is being told to the three? How could the professor possibly help them with their situation? Those answers shall have to wait for now, so make sure to stay attentive to the next chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"What? That's it? No thrilling ending to all of this?" 

No, because it's not over yet…don't you have to go play The Mayor or something?

"Look, my name is Tom Kenny, alright? Could you please just call me 'Tom' or 'Mr. Kenny' instead of listing off my previous voicing roles?"

I might…in the next chapter.

"I do agree with him, though."

Oh? And tell me, Mandy, what's to agree with?

"This whole chapter seemed…off in some way. You're so close in the conclusion and you're starting to slip."

Well, if it helps in any way, all of this will be over pretty soon. Just be patient, Mandy, and wait for the end.

"Alright, if you say so…oh, and one more thing."

Yes?

"You had better finish up in a GOOD manner; if you're going to go, then make it worth remembering."


	12. Chapter 12

Realms Adjoined: A Scythe of Relief

Location:

"STILL IN THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE!"

Well now, if it isn't Val Hallen Heffer, starting off my story again.

"I told you already, it's TOM KENNY!"

And I told YOU already that I wanted to do this since I'M the narrator of this story. I'll be out of your way momentarily.

"Alright already, just finish up your little narration so I can get back to work."

Fine…anyway, we now return to the Utonium home, within the laboratory of the professor himself.

"Oooh, hehehe, that tickles!"

"Ugh, Billy," the Professor pleaded, tinkering with the watch that Billy wore on his wrist, "you have to be still. I'm almost finished with the coordinative alignment placed within this device."

Grim and the Powerpuff Girls stood to the side, watching on as the Professor tried to handle Billy's random movements.

"I knew that he shouldn't have eaten those cookies a few chapters ago," Grim muttered, his arms crossed and scythe in hand.

"So, Mr. Reaper," Blossom began, "this whole trip is to find your friend Mandy so that you can return home?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking," Grim replied, "it is…though, there is one part of that description that I still don't agree with."

"Oh?" Bubbles asked, "And which part is that?"

"Well," Grim responded, "the part where you describe her as a 'friend'."

"I still say that you could be out doing something better with your time," Buttercup commented, "I mean, you're the Grim Reaper, the taker of souls, the ender of lives. But, from what you told us, you sound like some kind of babysitter. How lame."

"I hear ya on that one, sister."

Suddenly, Professor Utonium jumped up from his work area, Billy still lying on the table.

"Okay, that should do it," he began, "I adjusted the watch that Billy has so that it'll use the energy signature from your scythe to find beings similar to himself. In this case, the next area that you visit should be the location of the friend that you have been searching for."

"There's that 'friend' word again," Grim commented, walking over to Billy and the Professor, "But thanks a bunch for helpin' us out."

"Sure, my pleasure. Though, if I had more time and your permission, I would love to decipher the mechanics of your scythe; the esoteric implications of magical properties are mind boggling in themselves."

"Uh…no. There are some things that mortal men are not supposed to know…at least, not yet anyway."

Leaping off the table, Billy started to run in circles around Grim.

"Lesgo lesgo lesgo lesgo LESGO! We've got a find Mandy now! We're so close, I think I can smell it."

"I don't think THAT is what you're smelling, Billy," Grim commented, forming a portal before them.

As soon as it was formed, Billy's watch started to glow in the same color scheme and, after a slight twitch, the portal started to glow with a lighter hue.

"Yes!" Billy shouted, running into the portal, "Lesgo lesgo LESGO!"

"My apologies if we've caused any trouble," Grim said, walking in behind Billy, "Thanks again for your help."

"No problem," the Professor replied again, "Stop again anytime…though, not too soon."

"Oh, don't worry," Grim replied, the portal starting to close behind him, "I won't be back TOO soon." With this, he laughed maniacally, his voice echoing through the laboratory.

"Bye!" the girls cried after him, the Professor standing there with a worried look on his face, curious as to why Grim laughed like that as he left.

Okay, Yancy Langford, you can close out now.

"Oh, no one's going to get that reference."

They will if they know your voice acting history.

"So, once again, the day was saved…thanks to…uh…Professor Utonium's creative genius."

Huh…I really didn't give the Powerpuff Girls much of a part in this one, did I? Oh well. Thanks for the cooperation, Tom Kenny.

Meanwhile

It was already early afternoon in the Peach Creek Cul-de-Sac, and Mandy looked on at the livelihood of her surroundings. Most of the kids were still playing with the Frisbees that she sold to them, while the Eds were still running from the Kankers, trying to avoid their embrace. Holding her jar of funding, she walked over to the sidewalk, away from the mass chaos that was in the streets.

"So," she began, "I saw some new faces and made a few bucks in the process. Knowing the way things work around here, I'd say that I'll be leaving here right about…now."

Just as she uttered that last word, a multicolored flash appeared before her, the same flash that brought her to this suburb in the first place. As the light dimmed, she saw Billy and Grim standing before her, Billy leaping into the air instantly.

"Mandy!"

He made a dash for her, preparing to give her a big hug. Forcefully pushing the jar in his direction, Mandy watched as Billy's face seemed to meld with the jar, the big nosed boy falling to the ground in pain.

"Yeah, it's you alright," Grim commented, "it's nice to see that you're your usual self."

"Yeah, sure it is," she replied, "It took you long enough to get here. Taking your own sweet time, I see."

"You're welcome," Grim replied, Billy now getting off the ground.

"AAAAAHHH, look!"

A cry came from the center of the Cul-de-Sac, everyone stopping at the sound of Jimmy's screaming.

"It's the Grim Reaper!" Jimmy screamed, "He has come for us!"

"The deliverer of souls has come to take our lives!" Rolf exclaims, "We must flee, for only the quick stand a chance at delaying the inevitable!"

Six children ran for their very lives just then, the Eds and Kankers having already run away from the collective with the latter chasing the former.

"You know," Grim started, "I'm actually used to this by now. Why don't we all just go home?"

"Agreed." Mandy said.

"Yippee!" Billy exclaimed.

With all in agreement, Grim formed another portal and the three traversed through it, leaving behind the serene scene of Peach Creek behind them.

Final Destination: Endsville

Inside of Mandy's room, her closet area began to glow with the same light from the start of the adventure. In a bright flash, Grim, Billy, and Mandy all appeared from within the doorway. Then, in a powerful snap, the portal vanished, rendering Mandy's closet to its usual form.

"Well," Grim stated, "we're finally back."

"Oh yeah!"

After making that exclamation, Billy pushed the play button on the radio that he had left behind.

"We have just rescued Mandy…

…now things are all fine and dandy.

She is out of the closet!

We got her out of the closet!

We had thought she was lost-ed!

But now she's out from the closet!"

Setting down her jar of money, Mandy picked up the radio and threw it right at the back of Billy's head.

"And THAT is for pushing me through in the first place, moron!"

Jumping back up, Billy shook off the radio buttons lodged into the back of his head, a thought coming back to his mind.

"Oh! We never gots the hunny! I'm still haungrah!"

Throwing off the watch that Grim had given him earlier, he ran out of Mandy's room and out of her house.

"That boy is an idiot," Grim commented, "but we already know that."

"And I also know," Mandy said, "that you could have come for me any time you wanted. You purposely took your time in finding me so that I would have to stay longer in whatever place I was sent to."

Nervously, Grim tried to think of a reasonable response to her claim…which was difficult to do just then, as she was correct on all accords.

"You're lucky I got something out of all of this," Mandy said, pointing to the jar of money, "otherwise I would really be mad."

Picking up the watch that Billy had thrown off, Mandy turned and sat on her bed.

"You may go now," she said, "but don't wander off to far. I'll be sure to call on you soon."

At that, Grim walked out of her room, muttering to himself as he did.

"That no good, ungrateful…the tings I do for these kids…"

With her adventure over, Mandy placed the watch on her bed, an idea slowly coming to mind. What might her thoughts be for now? What exactly is she planning with that watch of her? Those questions are soon to be answered, so make sure to stay attentive to for the final chapter of: Realms Adjoined.

"Wait, you mean this isn't the last chapter of this story?"

Well, in a technical sense, Mandy, this IS the last chapter. Realistically, though, there's one final thing that I want to add to all of this.

"Wait, what are you…oh, I remember now."

If it's any consolation, it won't be all that long of a chapter.

"Fine, if you say so. Overall, you did a decent job on all of this. You're no professional or anything, but you didn't really screw up all that bad either."

Umm…okay…thanks for the compliment.

"Whatever. Now go and finish this all up."

Will do.


	13. Chapter 13

Realms Adjoined: Adulating Retention

"Messy, messy, messy."

The Peach Creek youth exited his bathroom, wiping off the final trace of lipstick from his features.

"Be it cel animation or written fiction, there's always that clichéd ending for which we have become known."

He carefully dropped his washcloth down the specified laundry chute in the hallway as he continued to his room.

"Goodness, what a day. I didn't think that we'd ever get away from those cantankerous Kankers, not to mention the minimal payment we received from our services in today's scam."

Tired from all of the activity he had that day, they boy took his time in opening the door to his room.

"And, what's worse, I didn't even get to say good-bye to…Mandy!"

Upon entering, he saw the girl in question standing before him. Standing in the middle of his room, Mandy stared back at him, both of her hands behind her back.

"Hello Double D," she began, "I have to admit, your room is well kept…though one would think that you had OCD by how orderly you keep your belongings."

"Oh, hello again," Edd said nervously, "It's nice to see you…in my room…without ever coming through my house…did my parents let you in? How did you get up here without me knowing?"

"Calm down," she replied, "The reason I came back was because you're the only person in this neighborhood that I can actually tolerate."

"You 'came back'? What do you mean?"

"I had left shortly after you and your friends were chased away by your fan club. When I returned home, I thought all that had happened and came with a proposition."

It was then that she took her hands from behind her back, revealing two watches to him, one in each hand. He stared at them quizzically, shutting his door as he fully entered the room.

"A gift? Why thank you. Oh, you really didn't have to."

"Yeah, well, I kind have to if this is all going to work."

She placed a watch on her right hand and, after twisting a dial, a small portal appeared before them both. Edd was amazed by what was before him, yet worried as well.

"What anomaly is this? Something of this magnitude produced by a small timepiece? What is it for?"

"It's a portal that leads to a different realm," Mandy explained, "Similar to the one that brought me here in the first place. I talked to a 'friend' of mine back at home about what had happened, and I liked the idea of expansive exploration."

She then held out the second watch in her palm, extending it to Edd.

"I offer you an opportunity to embark to different worlds, Double D. You're one of the few people that have interested me in any way, so I wanted you to share in the spoils of knowledge that is to be had from all of this."

The light from the portal reflected off of multiple surfaces in the room, colors flickering all about. Every so often, a small pulse from the portal would return the room's colors to normal, just before causing the hues to change yet again. In this light, Double D pondered the possible outcomes by all of this, hesitant by both what she was saying and the possibility of her being right.

"Well," he started, "This is all so sudden. I don't think that mother and father would really approve of me going on such an extensive outing as such."

"That's already taken care of. These watches were altered so that we can adjust the time of departure and arrival. I could have used this to stop myself from coming here altogether; I could have also used it to arrive here while you were sleeping. With this capability, it can be set so that no one will ever realize that you've left. You can return to the time right before we embarked on all of this, allowing you to virtually explore the world in the time it would take you to tie your shoes."

Double D was amazed by all that he was hearing. Such technology and opportunity before him, yet it all seemed so…made up, too good to be true.

"Look, if you don't want to go, then fine," she said, arm still outstretched, "But I figured that you'd be the kind to actually want something like this. You've got all to gain, and nothing to lose. You can stay or you can go, it's up to you to choose."

He looked at the watch in her grasp before looking back at her, noticing the look in her eyes. She wasn't smiling, but her eyes weren't that of someone upset or angered. It was as though there was another reason that she was giving him this watch…this opportunity. He couldn't tell exactly, but he felt something within that told him so…a feeling that he was sure she felt as well.

Reaching out, he took the watch from her grasp, applying it to his own wrist.

"I accept your offer, Mandy," he replied, "I'm sure that this peregrination will hold many possibilities for knowledge and discovery…and it may be quite enjoyable as well."

"Good," she replied, lowering her arm, "Keep in mind that this'll also keep tabs on where we are so that we can find each other if we get separated. You have control of these portals as well, so don't think that I'm going to be doing all of the work on this little venture of ours."

Looking out into the portal, Double D felt an excited rush through him, both from what had just happened and to all that would eventually take place. Even though he didn't sense it, the same rush went through Mandy as well, a small grin appearing for but a brief second.

"So," Edd asked, "Shall we embark on our journey?"

"Sure," Mandy replied, "Let's go."

At that, the two walked through the portal, each one with their own expectations for what was about to happen. As they left that particular world, the portal closed behind them, leaving behind no trace that anyone had even been there in the first place.

It was from a single accident that this whole journey began, and many realms were adjoined in order to bring it to a conclusion. Now, a whole new journey begins, one between two youths curious as to what more is to be had beyond their individual worlds. That, however, is a journey for the two of them to take for themselves. The thanks for an attentive nature have been given, and the involvement of new happenings shall unfold within the realm of imagination from the attentive themselves.

And that, my friends, is the conclusion, of Realms Adjoined.


End file.
